Monday, April 29, 2013

Change brick selection - is it possible?

Has anyone successfully changed their brick selection after the foundation walls have poured? I know it's still early in the constructions process and probably another month or more before they lay bricks for the front of house. We want to change our brick selection to a brighter color because our current selection is a little too dark. We emails our SR about our concern and hope they have not ordered the bricks yet. We are really hoping our SR can pull through for us at least this once and let us change our brick color.

Has anyone done this before? Maybe not for bricks but may other major options like granite, cabinet, sidings, etc after the cut-off date.

It never hurts to ask! I thought I read others (older, inactive blogs) changing things after the pre-construction, but it was usually adding something (such as a light, 15-panel door, driveway extension) rather than changing a selection to another choice.

We blame ourselves for this and no one else for this mistake.We should've try to find a home with the same brick instead of based our selection on the sample. What you see on the sample vs a completed house is vastly different.

I have been told everything is un-changeable after the preconstruction meeting because that is when they order materials. It's likely your brick has already been ordered and they will probably tell you know but it never hurts to ask. I've found it easier to ask and get a "no" than never ask and always wonder.

No harm in asking :) I really think it depends on your SR/regional management, but from what I've heard (and was told by my SR), they really don't like changes after your option finalization meeting and no changes at all are allowed after construction has started.

I know because I wanted to make an upgrade that would have given Ryan more $$, but I guess they have to do that because there are so many that when given time to think (during the stupid construction start delays), would make changes that they would have to do more to track.

I'm all too familiar with the second guessing, but I'm sure your brick will turn out great once installed.

Okay, this is going to WILD YOU!! We submitted our change orders for the exterior several times because I could not make up mind what scheme to choose for the exterior because the siding was taken by our neighbor. I must have had three different options. Each time the change order was submitted the brick, the stone, the shutters, the door, and the trim were listed on the change order. We met for our pre-construction meeting and I noticed the brick color was missing. Really!??! This was a divine opportunity to change the brick color; however, we had made our final decision so I thought. Another change order had to be submitted to reflect the brick being ordered. You simply cannot build a house without the stone or brick LOL Anyway, luck yfor us, the day the brick layers were about to install the brick I arrived on the scene. I looked at all three bushels of brick and they were two different colors. I asked the guy to stop them immediately. He told me he was mixing the two brick colors together. Really!!? He never questioned whether or not it was right!!!! He just assumed that is what we ordered. So we had to wait for the correct brick to be ordered and delivered which just took a couple of days. I am grateful I caught the mistake. So to answer your question--IF IT MEANS A LOT TO YOU, PAY THE FEE TO CHANGE THE BRICK!! IT'S NOT TOO LATE, YOU JUST HAVE TO PAY THE PRICE UNLESS YOUR SR IS WILLING TO GO TO BAT FOR YOU TO GET IT DONE FOR FREE. Lastly, the brick went up and guess what it was too dark!!!! We discovered that the sun comes up from the back of the house and rarely hits the front so you can not get the truly beauty of the brick. Had I known this I would have been inclined to order a lighter brick! In hindsight, I am glad we stuck to our color because in the other cul-de-sac and the other homes being built in our community have the same light color brick and elevation. Clearly, the lighter brick is the trendy option right now as the red brick was for decades. It baffles me how the other cul-de-sac has three Rome and one naples model with the same color brick. Two of the houses have the same brick and shutters--the only distinction is one house has a different elevation.

I shared ALL THAT to simply say, that the house was much farther along in the process and they had to do what they had to do and order the correct brick. RH CHARGES A FEE FOR ALL LATE CHANGE ORDERS TO ACCOMMODATE THE ADDITIONAL WORK. IF RH WAS UNABLE TO ACCOMMODATE THESE REQUESTS THEY WOULD NOT HAVE A FEE SCHEDULE THAT THE SR CAN REFER TOO. #justsaying